Earth Quake 2016

[heironymouspasparagus]

I live by the Admiral Twin Drive-In My home has a crawl space and I guess they are better than a slab foundation. No damage in my home. I'm doing some re-modeling in my house new  doors & put up paneling in the dining room, looks great. I plan to paint the bedrooms. I felt the quake and heard it, still dunno what made that loud "crashing" sound before the quake started, I was in my yard at the time it happened. Must have been some pressure wave.

Neither is inherently better than the other - it's all in the implementation, and a big dose of personal preference.  I have worked on quite a few 1920's vintage homes in Tulsa and it would surprise you how much really crappy stuff happened then, too, in the building industry - corners being cut is not just a modern "Home Creations" way of doing business.

[AquaMan]

That's true enough H. There were low quality builders then too. The main difference is in materials. Even bad builders were more likely to overbuild using extremely dense concrete block foundations, high quality (compared to today) lumber materials and solid hardwood floors with plank subfloors instead of plywood covered with laminate.

Todays homes are much better designed. Its like comparing vintage cars with todays Toyotas/Hondas/etc. I prefer the older homes but you have to watch out for their obsolete designs and flaws hidden behind plaster and lath.

[heironymouspasparagus]

That's true enough H. There were low quality builders then too. The main difference is in materials. Even bad builders were more likely to overbuild using extremely dense concrete block foundations, high quality (compared to today) lumber materials and solid hardwood floors with plank subfloors instead of plywood covered with laminate.

Todays homes are much better designed. Its like comparing vintage cars with todays Toyotas/Hondas/etc. I prefer the older homes but you have to watch out for their obsolete designs and flaws hidden behind plaster and lath.

One near 11th and Sandusky, little shotgun bungalow from the 30's, that needed foundation work.  The side was concrete block and was leaning out so far the house was only sitting on about 2" of the block.  Had to pull out about 40 ft of stem wall and replace.  When got to the bottom block, found that it was only about 3" deep in the ground - about 2 feet shallower than it should have been!  They had taken a shovel, skimmed a shallow trench a couple inches deep, put down some mortar and started laying blocks.  The whole house was like this, but only the south side was falling out.

Another one - 1921 two story in Maple Ridge - who woulda thought!   Plaster and lathe removed.  Wall stud - there were 3 or 4 that when put into position were made of 3 short pieces, with a gap between the top and bottom sections and a 'side' piece of 2 x 4 nailed to the other two pieces.  They would say that it was being resourceful to maximize the use of available lumber...  Another example of why we have actual building codes now.  The 2 x 4 were full dimension - really 2" x 4".

[patric]

Earthquakes triggered by fracking, not just wastewater disposal
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/earthquakes-triggered-by-fracking/